Thursday, June 02, 2005

KNOCK native, Nollaig Ó Muraíle, who was this year awarded the prestigious accolade of Mayo Person of the Year, will be the special guest at function in Carty’s Lounge, Knock on Friday night, June 3.

Nollaig was honoured by the Mayo Association in Dublin in this their Centenary year for his extraordinary achievement in transcribing, editing and indexing Leabhar Mór na nGenealach, The Great Book of Irish Genealogies by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh

Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, who has been described as one of the greatest Irish hereditary historians, originally compiled this work in the 17th century. [snip] Many important genealogical and legal works survive solely because of his endeavours. The Great Book of Irish Genealogies has remained unpublished for over three hundred years. Previous attempts to publish this work in ended in failure.

At the suggestion of the late Cardinal Tomas Ó Fiaich, Nollaig Ó Muraile set about the task of transcribing and indexing this huge manuscript. The work, consisting of five volumes, over 3,500 pages and approx 1,000,000 words, has been described as a monumental publishing achievement comparable to the ‘Annals of the Four Masters’. The culmination of 33 years hard work has now made the whole of Mac Fhirbhisigh’s Book of Genealogies available in print for the first time.